Vendors Fearful of Crackdown on Marketplace in Parking Lot

For years, they have been part of the landscape, these men and women gathered under tarps with makeshift shelves in the parking lot of Boyle Heights’ El Mercado, hawking everything from steaming ears of corn to shiny toys.

But their parking lot sales violate city zoning laws, and now the city plans to crack down on the illegal sales and the stands piled high with jewelry, porcelain, pots and pans.

Next week, city officials will ask building inspectors to begin regular sweeps of the stalls outside El Mercado, leaving many vendors wondering where they will go.

“It’s sad to think what will happen,” said Maria Torres, who supports her two daughters by selling nachos and porcelain dolls from a simple stand in the hot parking lot. “Kicking us out of here will send us to the welfare lines.”

Vendors like Torres say they’re just trying to make a living, but officials say the unauthorized vending is a public nuisance and could be dangerous because the food sales are not approved by the county Health Department.

In December, a city zoning board turned down a request to build permanent stalls outside the Mexican-style marketplace at 1st and Lorena streets. The owner appealed to the City Council, but the city attorney said the council cannot overrule the board’s decision.

The vendors outside El Mercado have been cited in the past, but officials said that now that the city has turned down the owner’s request to construct permanent stalls, the enforcement will be more regular and consistent. Illegal vendors face sanctions ranging from a warning to a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.

As a possible solution, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre is considering a long-debated plan to create a legal vending district along nearby Whittier Boulevard that would be available to El Mercado vendors and others in Boyle Heights. So far, the plan is stalled, facing staunch opposition from local businesses and resistance from the vendors themselves, who fear a more restrictive environment.

Meanwhile, the vendors are waiting, hoping someone will grant them a reprieve. Closing them down, they argue, will destroy the rich atmosphere outside the market and hurt more than 50 families who depend on the stands for a living.

“Everyone is afraid all the families will be left without jobs,” said Juanita Contreras, who sells toys in a small stall outside the bustling market. “It would be very harmful. While they’re looking [for an alternative], the people can’t go without eating or paying rent. We fought for this mercado to be a home with a lot of sacrifice. What will happen to us?”

For more than 20 years, El Mercado owner Pedro Rosado has been renting space on his parking lot to vendors, angering neighbors who complained about traffic and trash.

But even neighbors who bemoaned the litter and noise they said came from the nearby stalls add that they recognize the role of vendors in the area.

“The residents were never against the vendors--we were against the public health hazards,” said Nadine Diaz, 34, who lives on the street facing the market. “It’s a very, very difficult issue, because we as neighbors are trying to clean up our neighborhood. I think everybody has the right to live in clean area, and the right to work.”

City officials said they don’t want to grant a variance to Rosado, who they said has repeatedly violated zoning ordinances.

“From day one, [Rosado] has been renting that space and collecting income from these folks for something he doesn’t have a permit for,” said Fernando Tovar, Alatorre’s deputy on planning issues. “They don’t see that because they’re trying to make a living and the technical issues become invisible to them. But to grant him an entitlement could just exacerbate the situation.”

Rosado said that he once had a variance allowing commercial use and that he sought to renew it when he realized it had expired. He has been keeping the area clean, he added, hiring a full-time crew to sweep the streets. Now, he said, he is considering filing for another zoning change if his appeal to the City Council is not granted.

“It boils down to people’s livelihood,” Rosado said. “They’re on private property making a decent living. All it takes is a signature to make it legal--otherwise these people will be on the street.”

The vendors said they are the ones who will suffer if the city cracks down on Rosado. “The city should let us stay,” said Torres, who is helping send her eldest daughter to Cerritos College with money they make at their stand. “To Sr. Rosado, this is nothing. They’re actually punishing us.”

One answer to the problem could be creating a legal district for vending, a concept the City Council approved in 1994 after growing pressure from vendor advocates.

So far, not one vending district has gotten off the ground, including one approved for an area around MacArthur Park.

The city’s Board of Public Works has approved a legal vending district in Boyle Heights, but local merchants and residents are opposed to it because they say the area doesn’t draw enough pedestrian traffic.

“There’s nothing here for the vendors,” said Irene Phipps, owner of Molina’s Pharmacy on Whittier Boulevard. “I don’t mind them; it’s the fact they want to put up some 40 stands. There’s no walking area--they need to put them somewhere else. If they’re going to force it on us, [the merchants] are sure not going to like it.”

Many vendors also resist the idea of a legal district, which would require them to pay for county-approved carts, a permit fee and the cost of a management organization.

County health laws also prohibit the sale of many of the unpackaged food items, such as tacos, that make up the bulk of their sales.

But without a legal district, the vendors have few options.

“It’s looking bleaker and bleaker,” Tovar said. “People have such a negative perception of vending, and it’s difficult to overcome that. We hate to put the vendors on the street--this is their livelihood. Obviously, it’s going to have an impact. These are people who don’t have too many alternatives.”

Now, many vendors are bracing for the threatened crackdown with little hope, frustrated that they don’t know how long they have. On Tuesday, they gathered in hushed groups to discuss their looming eviction.

“If they kick us out, what are we going to do?” asked Conception Salado, 39, who said she supports her six children with the money from her elote (corn on the cob) stand. “Anywhere else would pay very little--this is the place where I can get by.”

“El Mercado is where we started, it’s where we’ve been all along,” added a vendor named Jose, as he poured honey over calabaza frita (fried squash) for a customer. “It’s like a family here. Here we eat together, drink together, cry together and marry. If they take it, they’ll send us to the streets.”